I am going to ace this test, I thought as I walked into class. I saw the plastic desks that looked like wood. The blue plastic chairs with the holes in the back. The usual smell of coffee hanging in the air. I had butterflies, and my heart was beating super fast. I sat down at my desk and waited for my teacher to pass out the test. I had studied for hours for this test. It's going to be a great day was my thought as I was handed the test. Little did I know my day was not going to go as planned.

I looked at the test and I blanked. I completely forgot almost everything. I filled out as much as I could. At this point I started tearing up. My eyes were foggy, and I felt nauseous. Why is this happening to me? Could it not have been anyone else. I knew that in the end it would be okay, but in that moment I thought the world was going to end. I sat there for a long time wallowing in my embarrassment, and sadness. All I wanted was to do well on this test. Suddenly my friend came over. I shooed her away. I was not going to cheat. I couldn't believe she was even offering too. Even though I told her to go away she wouldn't. She told me the answers and I wrote them down. Tears rolled down my cheeks. Why am I doing this. It's not right, but maybe I'll get a good grade. Ugghh, why am I thinking this, cheating is wrong. I switched back and forth, tell on myself, or cheat. It was not my decision to make though, because a boy told the teacher. He saw that I was crying. He calmly asked “What happened?” I could barely talk I was crying so hard. I told myself to calm down. After two minutes of nonstop crying I managed to calm myself enough to tell my teacher what had happened. He listened. I thought he was going to give me a red slip. You had to go to the principal's office if you were given a red slip. Surprisingly he didn't and I was not the one who got in trouble. It was my friend. She said that my teacher said “Emily, I know all you wanted to do was help your friend, but instead of helping her, you were actually hurting her.” My friend agreed, and said sorry.

I had to retake the test, and I was so shaken I got a B, but at least I did not cheat. Even though I didn’t get the score I was hoping for I learned a valuable lesson. Never cheat, even if you think you will fail. Failing is better than cheating.